Newly diagnosed

[Laura Q]

I have been trying to eat gluten free for about a week now but went to the toilet tonight and had blood when wiped, is this normal? 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @Laura Q!

It is not abnormal to see a little blood when wiping for various reasons. Rupture of a small blood vessel, hemorrhoids, physical trauma of stool passing through the colon/rectum, constipation-straining at stool, etc. This happens with me now and then. This would not have anything to do with commencing a gluten free diet.

Have you been officially diagnosed with celiac disease? Please be aware that if you go gluten-free before testing is complete you will invalidate the testing.

[Laura Q]

Yes I have been diagnosed a few days ago. Thank you for letting me be part of the group 😊

[plumbago]

Laura, I agree with trents, that blood in this instance is often attributed to a small cut in the anus / rectal area, and other things he noted.

But you may at the same time want to ensure that you are not bleeding any further up your digestive tract, and for that, your doctor can order a FIT test or fecal occult blood. It's easy to do. Good luck.

[Laura Q]

On 1/24/2024 at 7:48 PM, plumbago said:

Laura, I agree with trents, that blood in this instance is often attributed to a small cut in the anus / rectal area, and other things he noted.

But you may at the same time want to ensure that you are not bleeding any further up your digestive tract, and for that, your doctor can order a FIT test or fecal occult blood. It's easy to do. Good luck.

Thank you 😊

[Bronwyn W]

On 1/24/2024 at 9:48 PM, plumbago said:

Laura, I agree with trents, that blood in this instance is often attributed to a small cut in the anus / rectal area, and other things he noted.

But you may at the same time want to ensure that you are not bleeding any further up your digestive tract, and for that, your doctor can order a FIT test or fecal occult blood. It's easy to do. Good luck.

Thank you for this insight. I have had rectal bleeding after glutening and subsequent constipation (+ IBS-C) and always attributed it to internal hemorrhoids (diagnosed). What I wasn't aware of is the possibility of bleeding further up the digestive tract. Please can you elaborate on the causes and symptoms to watch for?

[plumbago]

@Bronwyn W Working with your medical provider, you could do a complete blood count test. If you were bleeding say from an ulcer in the stomach (and let's hope not), your red blood cells could be low and your hemoglobin low as well. Your stools may show up as the proverbial "dark and tarry," indicative of a bleeding site further away from the anus. Basically, you may be anemic. Your heart may be beating extra fast as a way to compensate for the decreased number of blood cells, your oxygen saturation may be lower than normal on a pulse oximeter, and so on. But talk to your doctor.

[trents]

As Plumbago mentioned, bleeding in the upper end of the GI track tends not to show up as bright red in color because it gets acted upon by the digestion process and more thoroughly mixed in with food residues that are passing through the intestines.

[Bronwyn W]

8 hours ago, plumbago said:

@Bronwyn W Working with your medical provider, you could do a complete blood count test. If you were bleeding say from an ulcer in the stomach (and let's hope not), your red blood cells could be low and your hemoglobin low as well. Your stools may show up as the proverbial "dark and tarry," indicative of a bleeding site further away from the anus. Basically, you may be anemic. Your heart may be beating extra fast as a way to compensate for the decreased number of blood cells, your oxygen saturation may be lower than normal on a pulse oximeter, and so on. But talk to your doctor.

Thank you 😊 I will certainly have those tests done to be thorough although bright red color indicates lower down. 

7 hours ago, trents said:

As Plumbago mentioned, bleeding in the upper end of the GI track tends not to show up as bright red in color because it gets acted upon by the digestion process and more thoroughly mixed in with food residues that are passing through the intestines.

This information is very interesting,  Thank you so much 🙏🏻 

[Kjmanchester]

I'm newly diagnosed  bought a test from Amazon it was a pin prick for blood showed positive ? So I decided to send my hair sample off that came back 100% all types that contain gluten ! So asked my Gp for a blood test to confirm ? I have been waiting over 3 weeks for this test to come back.. since hair test I have cut out anything with gluten in, and my rash is disappearing and toilet is more firm as before it was like pouring water down the loo

[trents]

@Kjmanchester, going on a gluten free diet before the GP has had a chance to run the blood tests for celiac disease will likely invalidate the results of the tests.

Hair sample tests for gluten disorders are not recognized as reliable diagnostic methods.

Can you supply a link to the "pin prick" test you got from Amazon?

The fact that your symptoms have improved since removing gluten from your diet indicates that you either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). They share many of the same symptoms but NCGS does not damage the lining of the small bowel as does celiac disease. There is no test for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out. But since you have already started the gluten-free diet, as I already explained, your testing for celiac disease will likely not be accurate. For it to be accurate you would need to restart gluten and be eating generous amounts of it for several weeks before the test blood draw.